Micro-managing Pres

Nonprofit Q&A

A service of Jeane Vogel and Fund Raising Innovations

April 23, 2004

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Here is this week’s question:

My board president is making my staff nuts! He moved into the conference room two days a week and insists on meeting with staff and me several times a week. He's into everything! He's powerful and has money, both of which we need, but he's not letting us do our jobs and some of my best staff are ready to quit. How can I get him out of here?

You mean short of ... Oh, wait. That's illegal and probably violates your mission.

Just kidding, but I know you must feel like doing something drastic! Board management, especially Board President management, is the executive director's hardest job. You're balancing leadership development of good volunteers with trying to please your boss -- all in one person. It's not easy.

While most of the time I hear that board presidents are absent and EDs are desperate to get some work out of them, the overly involved president or chair is far more frustrating. How can you possibly tell him to get out of your face without losing your job?

First, it might help to figure out what motivates this volunteer. While we'd like to think that each of us gives our time because we genuinely care about the mission, we're still human beings. Greed, popularity and quest for power trump altruism. There just aren't that many Mother Teresa's out there, are there?

Volunteers must care about the mission, of course, but other factors can be powerful motivators. Volunteers join a board because

	someone asked them. They might be volunteering for social reasons -- to find a mate, because they are lonely or bored, or because they wanted to be with friends.
	your mission has touched someone in their lives. Sometimes these are the hardest board members to have because they see your mission through the filter of their personal pain or triumph.
	they want to make a specific change. There are lots of people who passionately believe in your mission and they want to fulfill it.
	they want power. Don't underestimate this one. Some volunteers in "real life" feel like they have no control over their lives. They might be middle managers or stay-at-home moms who gave up career for family or frustrated for a variety of reasons. Their board work is a source of power for them and they wield it with might.
	they want business connections. Promotions, sales, business deals and yes, even contributions, are based on relationships. Nonprofit boards are good source of business or job leads.
	their company says they have to. It bugs me a lot that some corporations send their executives into the nonprofit community to volunteer. There's a little bit of Rudyard Kipling going on here, as if the corporations are saying "let's go show the nonprofits how to run their business properly." Not all executive volunteers have this attitude, of course, but lots do.

Where does your board president fit in? Without knowing him, I'm guessing he's a megalomaniac who wants power and control. The first lesson a good board president learns is that micro-managing is a no-no. This guy hasn't learned it. The problem is, you can't teach him. It has to come from a peer.

Look at your board. Who does the president respect? Who does he listen to during meetings? Who does he go to for advice? Can you enlist the help of this person?

Ask this board member to suggest a planning meeting for senior staff and key volunteer leadership. Use the meeting to review your agency goals for the next six or 12 months. Aside specific tasks and areas of responsibility for each person. Your board member ally should be able to back you up -- and deflect the president -- when you take responsibility for specific tasks. Make sure, though, that the board president has substantial work to do or supervise at the board level.

Your board ally also could bring up space allocation issue. Is the president's "office" interrupting staff use of that space? Is there somewhere else he should be working?

I hate to suggest this because it sounds incredibly self-serving, but this could be the time to bring in a consultant. An outsider can look at the board and agency structure and make recommendations that staff or board members cannot.

However you choose to approach him, you will have to do it through a board peer. You and he are not equals; he is your boss. Even though you probably spend more time educating him than he does "supervising" you, the board has the power to hire and fire you. Your job is to help him find meaningful ways to make a mark on the agency during his presidency without allowing him to take over the agency. You're still the CEO. It will take a lot of creative power to move him out, but I suspect both of you -- and your agency -- will be stronger as a result.

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Here is this week’s question:

Send mail to jeanevogel@earthlink.net with questions or comments about this web site. Last modified: 09/27/07

Send mail to jeanevogel@earthlink.net with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: 09/27/07